Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Reduced by Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,041 shares during the period. Apple comprises 13.6% of Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.